A&M-Alabama has national title implications

Published 10:20 am, Friday, October 16, 2015

Texas A&M's Kyle Allen looks to pass against Arkansas during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (Sam Craft/The Bryan-College Station Eagle via AP)

Texas A&M's Kyle Allen looks to pass against Arkansas during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (Sam Craft/The Bryan-College Station Eagle via AP)

Photo: Sam Craft

A&M-Alabama has national title implications

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COLLEGE STATION -- By Alabama’s count, it has played in only three regular-season games without national championship implications since the start of the 2008 season.

Saturday’s game at undefeated No. 9 Texas A&M will be the latest to cause ripples in the SEC West and outward. Though the Aggies aren’t nearly as familiar with big-time stakes as the No. 10 Crimson Tide, they could get used to this.

“Being here in our league for three and a half years, to have a game like this that has division and conference and national implications in that short of time is a great thing for A&M,” Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said. “And it’s great for our fans cause it’s at home.”

A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC) could move into serious SEC and College Football Playoff contention with a win over Bama (5-1, 2-1), with the big ol’ caveat only half a season will have been played. The first CFP rankings won’t even be released until Nov. 3.

But recent history shows that a win over the Tide carries value. When Ole Miss knocked them off last season and again in September, the Rebels shot from outside the top 10 up to No. 3. When Ohio State took down the Tide in last year’s CFP semifinals, it validated its run to the national title and No. 1 perch at the start of this season.

For Alabama, because of that early 43-37 loss at home to Ole Miss, it needs to win Saturday to keep the playoff a realistic pursuit. The Tide claims 91 of its last 94 regular-season games have had national championship implications.

Meanwhile, the Aggies faithful get to enjoy the buildup to a top-10 matchup at the sparkling, rocking new Kyle Field.

Saturday’s game marks just the sixth matchup of top-10 teams at A&M. The most recent featured the Tide’s much-hyped visit to College Station in 2013.

That game came a year after A&M’s upset of No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and with Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel still scrambling around in maroon, a frenzy built in College Station.

A&M athletic director Eric Hyman noted then, “We’d like to do this on a consistent basis.”

No. 1 Alabama beat No. 6 A&M 49-42, and the national fallout was muted because it was only mid-September, the SEC opener for both programs.

When No. 8 A&M hosted No. 7 Oklahoma State in 2011, it was also early in the season, and both programs’ Big 12 opener.

Saturday’s game marks the latest a ranked opponent has faced an undefeated A&M team at Kyle Field since 1975. That season, No. 2 A&M (10-0) beat No. 5 Texas 20-10 on Nov. 28.

The Aggies are aware of what’s at stake Saturday, though they also know six games will remain after, including an immediate trip to No. 13 Ole Miss, A&M’s first true road game this season, and a season-ending visit to No. 6 LSU, which A&M still hasn’t defeated in SEC competition.

A&M hasn’t opened 6-0 since 1994.

“In all honesty this is probably the biggest home game in my four years,” senior defensive tackle Julien Obioha said. “There’s a lot at stake. It’s the next game, we’re 5-0, it’s the new Kyle Field. There’s so many great things about this game. But it’s just simple, we have to go out there and perform our best.”

A&M sophomore defensive end Myles Garrett routinely lured the nation’s highest-profile college coaches to Arlington Martin to recruit him, including Alabama’s Nick Saban. Garrett this week recalled Bama’s recruiting pitch: “’We’re Alabama,’” Garrett recalled. “When they were recruiting me, they were the guys, and they still view themselves as the guys. ... It’s a good sell, but I’m here.”

So how do the Aggies, who fell 59-0 at Alabama only a year ago, change the status quo?

“Beat Bama,” Garrett said.

John Chavis, in his first year at A&M but a long-time SEC defensive coordinator, said even he gets more inspired by Saturday’s platform.

“Yeah, and I hate to admit it, but probably so,” he said. “You look at their stature. This is a big game for Texas A&M. And my focus is on Texas A&M and this being about us. But, certainly, you have a chance to go and compete against one of the best teams in the league.”

After seeing their SEC win totals decrease over their first three years in the league, the Aggies want to force their way back into the conversation.

“As you win every week, this game becomes the biggest game,” Sumlin said. “This game is a big game because we’re 5-0, and it’s Alabama, and we’re both top-10 teams, and we’re both trying to win the division championship and get to Atlanta [for the SEC title game].”

On Twitter: @khairopoulos

Big games at Kyle

Matchups of top-10 teams at Kyle Field:

Year Result

1941 No. 10 Texas 23, No. 2 A&M 0

1951 No. 10 A&M 14, No. 4 Oklahoma 7

1975 No. 2 A&M 20, No. 5 Texas 10

2011 No. 7 Oklahoma State 30, No. 8 A&M 29

2013 No. 1 Alabama 49, No. 6 A&M 42

Having an impact

In recent years, teams have gotten a powerful boost from beating Alabama: